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Thursday July 3, 2008


     

Order of Canada Members Return their Awards Over Morgentaler Decision

By Hilary White

LONDON, Ontario, July 3, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com ) - Father Lucien Larre, a Catholic priest in British Columbia, is returning his Order of Canada, saying that Morgentaler's investiture into the highly prestigious Order was "a terrible mistake".

Fr. Larre said he did not want to "condemn" Dr. Morgentaler, but felt "compelled in conscience to return my Order of Canada." He added, "I believe in my heart that he is horribly wrong and the advisory committee made a terrible mistake."

Even the usually reticent Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated he is not happy with the choice to honour Morgentaler. In comments today after a meeting with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Harper said he would rather see the award "be something that really unifies" and "brings Canadians together."

Created in 1967, the order was established to recognize the lifetime contributions made by Canadians who made a major difference to Canada. The first level, Member of the Order of Canada, is awarded for "a lifetime of distinguished service in or to a particular community, group or field of activity."

One man, who asked to remain unnamed to avoid media publicity, told LifeSiteNews.com that, although he had been named as a recipient for his volunteer activities, he would ask the committee to remove his name from the list. "At first I thought it was a great honour. But right now I'm not sure I'm a proud Canadian. Honour dropped down quite a bit today," he said.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops yesterday decried the naming of Dr. Morgentaler, issuing a news release calling it an "inadmissible affront" to Canadians. "In the name of freedom of choice, he has encouraged the development of a culture of death and has thus attacked the most vulnerable, the unborn," the bishops said.

Bishop Ronald Fabbro of London, Ontario, also said he was "extremely discouraged" to hear of the award. "I join Catholics across Canada, as well as many other Canadians who respect the value of every human life, in urging the Governor General to revoke this decision," he said.

Bishop Fabbro was joined locally by Chatham-Kent Essex MP Dave Van Kesteren and Lambton-Kent Middlesex MP Bev Shipley who also said he was "greatly disappointed" by the decision and that "Canada's highest civilian honour has been politicized and debased by this appointment".  Van Kesteren said, "I would have thought they would have used more wisdom in the selection process."

Theodore Caldwell, president of Caldwell Asset Management wrote in the National Post yesterday that his father, Thomas S. Caldwell, a recipient of the award in 2003, has also returned his award as a protest. Caldwell wrote that he was "proud" that his father had returned the award, saying, "I have not been graced with the time or talent to have attained such a prestigious award. But if I had, and if the same folks who honoured me then chose to celebrate a man for snuffing out little lives, I like to think I would waste no time in telling them where to stick their snowflake."

Thomas Caldwell, a businessman, is chairman of the King-Bay Chaplaincy, a non-denominational Christian ministry that provides meals, clothes and other assistance to street people. He also received Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 for his activities on behalf of veterans.

Barbara Kay wrote in the National Post yesterday that, at the very least, awarding the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour, to Dr. Morgentaler was "unwise".

"Abortion is a divisive issue, and only two minority groups believe there is a black-and-white answer to the questions of 'if' and 'when'," she wrote.

Kay said that although most Canadians fall "somewhere in between" the pro-life and pro-abortion opinions, "a significant number of Canadians were offended yesterday - and many were more than offended: They were ashamed and morally anguished at his invitation into the Order."

She points out that, having cast the entire debate in terms of "women's health" and "women's freedom", "[p]art of Dr. Morgentaler's legacy has thus been to make pro-life advocacy politically incorrect. Chilling free speech is not the hallmark of a 'better country'."

But the bottom line, that Dr. Morgentaler is personally responsible for the deaths of countless thousands of innocent children, was highlighted by the Toronto Sun, who quoted Joanne Boone. Boone, as an 18 year-old, had paid Morgentaler $600 for an abortion. 

"If you can imagine a soul being pulled out one's body! That is how it felt," said the now 56 year-old Boone. "It felt so unnatural. We are supposed to give life, not end it."

She told the Sun that she felt she had no choice and no say because her family had decided on an abortion. 

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